Baked Feta Recipe
This Baked Feta Recipe is an appetizer that you can prepare in just 5 minutes using a handful of ingredients – grape tomatoes, olives, fresh garlic, olive oil, honey, and dried herbs. Bake it all together with a block of feta cheese until it's warm and soft. Serve it with crostini or pita chips!
Servings 8 people
Calories190 kcal
Cost $ 1.75 per person
Equipment
- 1 Baking dish
Ingredients
- 2 cups grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup pitted olives preferably a medley of green olives and Kalamata olives
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano plus extra
- 1 teaspoon dried basil plus extra
- 4 tablespoon olive oil or EVOO (good quality), divided (use more oil if needed)
- 8 oz feta cheese block choose a full-fat, brined feta cheese preferably and drain the liquid before baking (NOT CRUMBLED FETA)
- red pepper flakes A pinch
- 2 ½ tablespoon honey divided (you can skip it but it provides a balance of flavors). Use sugar-free honey for a keto appetizer!
- Fresh basil and oregano optional (to garnish)
- Crostini or (pita chips) to serve with
Instructions
- To start, place grape tomatoes and olives in a baking dish. Toss them well with minced garlic, dried oregano and basil, 3 tablespoon of olive oil, and 2 tablespoon of honey.
- Using a spoon, push the vegetables to the sides of the baking dish and place the block of feta cheese right in the middle.
- Drizzle the cheese with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or more if you want) and sprinkle extra dried herbs on top and a good pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Bake at 350° F (180° C) for about 20-25 minutes on the middle rack until soft. Then, brush ½ tablespoon of honey on top of the feta cheese and broil it on the oven top rack until golden brown on top (about 3-5 minutes).
- Alternatively, you can bake the cheese at 430° F (220° C) for 10 minutes on the oven top rack, or until soft and charred. It will take less time to bake but the top can brown faster!
- Because we used honey in this baked feta recipe, we used the first method; otherwise, the top may have gotten too brown. Either way, the spreadable feta will be soft, but not melted!
- Serve it with fresh herbs such as fresh basil leaves (and/or oregano leaves) and crostini or pita chips.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Use a shallow baking dish instead of a deep casserole dish because the tomatoes roast faster and concentrate their flavor better.
- Pat the feta dry lightly before baking to help it roast instead of steam, which creates a richer and creamier texture.
- If your tomatoes are not very sweet, add a tiny pinch of sugar before roasting to balance the acidity naturally.
- Slightly undercook the pasta by 1 minute because it continues absorbing the hot sauce after mixing.
- Mash the roasted tomatoes and feta while still very hot. Feta becomes less creamy as it cools.
- Add pasta water gradually, not all at once. The starch helps emulsify the olive oil and feta into a silkier sauce.
- Finish with fresh basil only after mixing because heat quickly dulls fresh herb flavor and color.
- Avoid overcrowding the tomatoes in the baking dish. Giving them space helps them burst and caramelize instead of steaming.
- For deeper flavor, roast the garlic cloves whole with the tomatoes instead of adding raw minced garlic later.
- Use bronze-cut pasta if available because its rougher surface holds onto the creamy feta sauce much better.
Nutrition
Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 582mg | Potassium: 127mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 502IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 162mg | Iron: 1mg
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